Between You and Me
by Seto Kaiba Is Boss
Summary: A Pendulumshipping fic for Pendulum Week on Tumblr. Each chapter is a one-shot made with the given prompt for the corresponding days in mind. Ratings shall vary. Shonen-Ai, Pendulumshipping/ReijixYuya
1. Chapter 1: Showtime!

**A/N: **Hey guys…so I recently started going onto Tumblr and I saw the Pendulumshipping/Pendulum Week thing and decided I wanted to give it a try.

**Prompt: **Showtime!

**Rating:** K

**Warning: **Despite my mostly reading Humor/Romance Fics, and being a Shipper, I have never written anything romantic. In fact, I have a talent for writing Tragedies and the like…despite my not liking Tragedies and never reading them. Funny how that works, huh? Anyways, the point is that these are probably gonna be awkward and end in pretty similar ways.

…

Enjoy?

* * *

**Between You and Me**

It was about six months since the end of the Maiami Championship. Sakaki Yuya had won the Junior Youth division of the prestigious tournament sponsored by Leo Corporation. Pendulum summoning was now slowly spreading throughout the world and Yuya had become famous for being the pioneer of the new summoning method and for his winnings in the tournament and victory against the former Duel Champion, Strong Ishijima. In other words, he was now a public figure—and apparently, that meant that he absolutely MUST (according to Nico Smiley) act as an active member of the dueling community by making public appearances and promoting products and such. And it was thanks to that, that he was now in his current situation.

He was standing in the middle of a stadium of hundreds—maybe even thousands—of people with Akaba Reiji standing by his side. They were each holding a mic and dressed in their usual garb. Men, women, and children of all ages were cheering excitedly for the dueling tournament to begin. But, before that could happen, the two duelists would have to sing a song together. Yes, you heard it right—Sakaki Yuya and Akaba Reiji would be singing a song together to kick off the start of a tournament that neither one of them were actually participating in—and it was all Nico Smiley's fault.

It was only a few weeks ago that Nico had come bursting into You Show Duel School to ask Yuya to promote an upcoming tournament. The tournament was one of the lesser known ones and having public figures such as Yuya promote it would really bring it some much needed attention. Initially, Yuya had declined, he'd decided that it wasn't a necessary step to reach his goals and that he wouldn't be any help anyways, since he didn't know the first thing about promoting things. Eventually, however, he gave in—Nico had bugged him about it incessantly throughout the next week—and it was only after he'd already agreed that he'd been told what exactly he'd have to do, which meant that even though he wanted to, he could no longer back out.

It's not that he hated singing or anything, though. He just thought it was awkward to have to sing in front of an audience—and with his greatest rival, at that. Also, the only time he'd ever sung before was in music class at school, with his voice being mixed in with the voices of all his classmates; he'd never quite been in the position where his own voice was heard clearly and didn't know if he was any good or not. So, you can understand his apprehension at having to perform in front of so many people, despite his being an entertainer who usually thrives on the attentions of others.

To Yuya's right, Reiji cleared his throat. He looked at the older teen who was now readjusting his glasses. "It's time," Reiji told him, looking out at the crowd before them. "Alright," Yuya replied before he took a deep breath, smiled brightly, and yelled to the crowd, "Ladies and Gentleman! It's Showtime!"

The crowd roared in excitement as the music started, and Yuya started singing his lines.

"As long as those smiles are there,  
Wanna keep on shining!"

Next, Reiji sang his lines and a whole section of fangirls screamed in happiness and excitement.

"I'll stake it all on my ultimate pride,  
Wanna be the perfect!"

Then, the two teens sang in unison.

"No matter when, we'll believe in our tomorrow.  
Now, on wings of courage, just fly away!  
We are future fighters!"

People throughout the audience (girls, especially), cheered. The two actually sounded good together. Sooner than Yuya expected, the whole ordeal was over and the audience was cheering. The rest of the tournament went on without a hitch and the winner was some twelve year old synchro-user.

Afterwards, Yuya walked out of the stadium and happened to come across his rival. The two started walking together, and before long, they were surrounded by dozens of happy, squealing girls. The girls crowded around them like a bunch of piranha trying to get at a piece of meat. They were praising the two duelists' performance, saying how great the sounded and looked together, and asking questions like if they were together.

Upon hearing those kinds of questions, Reiji's eyes widened in shock and Yuya blushed in embarrassment.

"W-what are you saying," Yuya asked the girls.

One of the girls spoke up, "You two look so adorable together and your voices go together perfectly!"

The rest of the girls in the group squealed in the affirmative.

The girl standing to the left of the first one talked next, "So, are you two together? Cause' I totally ship you two!"

"Ship…?" Yuya asked, confused.

The girl nodded enthusiastically in the affirmative before looking up at the two with hopeful eyes. Reiji, who had been quiet up until then, finally spoke up, "Yes, that's right." He smirked and wrapped his arm around the the other's waist. Yuya blushed even redder than before and looked up at the older of the two. The girls squealed in happiness and made way for the two as Reiji ushered Yuya down the sidewalk, away from the place where they had sung their duet.

* * *

**A/N: **Obviously, the song used was Future Fighter! by Kensho Ono (Yuya's Seiyuu) and Yoshimasa Hosoya (Reiji's Seiyuu) and I have a slight obsession with fitting songs I like from an anime series into said series somehow which is how I came up with this fic.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Read and Review!


	2. Chapter 2: Gifts

**A/N: **Thank you, everyone who reviewed/followed/favorited! You guys are too kind.

**Prompt:** Gifts

**Rating:** K

**Warning:** These one-shots are probably gonna be awkward and repetitive, so…

…

Enjoy?

* * *

**Chapter 2: Gifts**

Akaba Reiji opened up his locker door to place his shoes in it and retrieve his school slippers, only to be greeted by the sight of a bag with his name on it. Although it didn't show on his face, he was really quite surprised. There was once a period of time when he'd get dozens of love letters from girls who were smitten with him daily, but after making an announcement about how he was uninterested and extremely annoyed by these actions, the girls quit their love letter writing. So, when he opened his locker, he wasn't expecting to find any love letters—let alone a gift.

He set his shoes back down on the floor and took out the unexpected gift. Grabbing the bow around the top, he pulled it loose and the bag fell open. Inside the bag was a red yo-yo with white swirls on the sides. He looked around in the bag and his locker but found no card—something that usually accompanied these types of things.

Why a yo-yo?

* * *

The next day, Reiji once again received a gift from his locker. This time however, it was in a box rather than a bag. He took the box out from his locker and opened it. Inside was a piece of strawberry cake, and once again, there was no card. He set down his school bag and placed the box on top before exchanging the two pairs of footwear and putting on his slippers.

Having picked up his bag and the box of cake, he turned around and left for his first class. As he was walking down the hallway, he felt like he was being watched. He looked off in the direction he was getting the feeling from and caught a glimpse of someone's blazer disappearing behind a corner. The bell rung only a second later and he increased his speed, not wanting to be late.

* * *

What the heck was this?

It was now Wednesday morning—the day after he discovered the strawberry cake he's been gifted with. Once again, he'd gone to his locker and found a present. Still with no card of any kind in sight. This time, the gift he received had not been in any kind of packaging.

He looked down at the colorful object in his hand. It was a box with a crank on its side. He was pretty sure what it was, but he wanted to make sure. As he turned the crank, the song 'Pop Goes the Weasel' played and out popped a smiling clown. It was a good thing he got here earlier than usual—this way, he didn't bother anyone else or get any of the strange looks he surely would've gotten otherwise.

What was the giver of these gifts thinking?

Reiji got his things together and turned around, only to come face to face with one Kurosaki Shun. While the two weren't exactly friends, they weren't on bad terms either. Shun looked down at Reiji's hands and noticed the strange, colorful item in his acquaintances' hands. The two turned towards the hall leading to their classrooms and started walking. "So what's the deal with the box?" Shun asked the other as they progressed down the hallway.

The next couple of minutes consisted of Shun listening to Reiji recount what he's received from some mystery person and his thoughts about how weird it was. There weren't any cards, the presents were weird and seemed to have nothing to do with one another and were just weird things to give to someone. After hearing what Reiji had to say, Shun decided to tell the other teen what he'd seen.

"I saw an underclassman run away from the lockers Monday morning."

"An underclassman?"

"He was so flustered that he was flailing around and nearly tripped over air twice."

"Hmmm…" Reiji smirked.

* * *

A lone figure looked around at its surroundings before creeping towards the set of lockers that stood to the left of the walkway. The person went up to a certain locker positioned in the middle of the set and opened it. Just as it managed to do so however, a cough was heard, making it freeze in its tracks. The figure turned around to see the owner of said locker now standing before it.

Reiji smirked at the person who had just been opening up his locker.

"Hello, Sakaki Yuya!"

Immediately, Yuya's face lit up like a Christmas tree. The now blushing teen stuttered and slowly inched back towards the lockers as the older teen walked towards him. Eventually, the shorter teen's back hit the lockers and his escape routes were lost as the older of the two placed his hands on the locker, caging in the person who had been leaving him gifts. Yuya gulped audibly and moved his eyes away from Reiji.

"H-how did you know it was me?"

"I figured out the clues you left me with the gifts after Kurosaki told me there was an underclassman scurrying away awkwardly from the lockers one morning. First, you left me a yo-yo to indicate your first name—Yuya. Then you left me a strawberry cake for Sakaki. Lastly, the Jack-in-the-box was a reference to your personality as an entertainer. Had it not been for Kurosaki's description of you, I most likely would have never put the pieces together—which I assume was what you were wanting, given how you never left a card or name."

Yuya's gaze turned back to Reiji.

"There was something I wanted to convey to you, but I couldn't really do it because of how embarrassing it was. So, I decided to just leave you the gifts as a way of kind-of telling you."

"And what you wanted to tell me," Reiji replied as he plucked the heart-shaped box in Yuya's hands out of his grasp, "was that you like me?"

Yuya blushed in embarrassment and turned his gaze away once more before nodding slowly. Reiji smirked and leaned his head on top of the shorter's as he wrapped his arms around the other's waist. "I like you too," he whispered.

* * *

**A/N: **So…that happened. Ehehehe…

*Inches away slowly*

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Read and Review!


	3. Chapter 3: Rendezvous

**A/N: **Thank you, all who reviewed/favorited/followed! You guys are awesome.

**Prompt: **Rendezvous

**Rating: **K

**Warning: **Possible Awkwardness and repetitiveness.

…

Enjoy?

* * *

**Chapter 3: Rendezvous**

Earlier, on the Wednesday of that same week (it was now a Sunday), Reiji had invited his long time crush—an underclassman he was two years the senior of, and was named Yuya—to rendezvous with him at the park at five. Reiji wanted to finally confess to Yuya after years of crushing on him. He'd first have to gain up the courage to do so, however. Despite usually being the epitome of confidence and composure, Reiji hadn't the courage to confess as he'd had no real experience with the matters of the heart.

At 5:05 PM, his crush had finally arrived. Yuya waved his hand and greeted Reiji with a smile on his face as he ran towards him. Soon, they were seated on one of the park benches. Yuya had just asked why exactly Reiji had wanted to meet with him here and the older teen was trying to find the words for what he wanted to say.

Breathing deeply, Reiji began, "You see, Yuya, I—"

"DARLING!"

"Mieru!?"

Reiji's words promptly died in his throat after being cut off by the small fortune teller. Mieru and Yuya exchange a few more words before the girl suddenly lunges at him and hugs him with her arms wrapped around his neck. She says things about them getting married and having children and Reiji seethes. Here he was trying to confess his feelings and out of nowhere, this girl pops in and starts flirting with his crush! Standing up abruptly from his seat on the bench, Reiji turned towards the intruder and spoke calmly.

"I'm sorry miss, but you see, Yuya and I have a prior engagement we must attend to, so I'm afraid we must now take our leave."

Reiji then grabs Yuya's hand and strides forward, with him in tow, ignoring Mieru's protests and Yuya's confused questions of "Reiji?" and "What's wrong?" Eventually, Reiji had stopped walking and the two ended up where they were now—in front of a cafe. They entered the cafe and ordered; Yuya had ordered a strawberry smoothie and Reiji asked for cup of coffee. After they received their orders and both taken a sip of their respective drinks, Reiji decided to try again.

"So, Yuya, what I wanted to say before, was that I—"

"Sakaki Yuya!" An enraged voice rang out from the small shop's entrance. The two teens looked over towards the voice in surprise. Sawatari came over to the table the other two were sitting at with a grin on his face. He pulled up a chair from a nearby table and took it to the side if theirs before sitting down.

"Sawatari! What are you doing here?" Yuya asked the new addition to their table.

"That's my line! I'm a regular here. They have the best pie."

"Oh! I didn't know. I should've ordered a piece."

Inwardly, Reiji groaned. He was interrupted once again by yet another one of Yuya's acquaintances. This time, however, he couldn't just claim they had something else to do, as they had obviously just gotten here, and the drinks they had ordered came in the shop's own glasses—which means they couldn't leave. Reiji listened to the other two make idle conversation as he drank his coffee. Shingo had ordered the two of them his favorite pie, and it was obvious that they wouldn't be leaving here for a while.

Fifteen minutes later found the three still in the cafe at the same table. And Reiji was stewing in anger. Shingo now had Yuya's hands clasped in his own. He was raving about something that Reiji's enraged state of mind wouldn't allow him to register. Reiji looked down at the two's orders; they were pretty much finished, so that means…

Reiji stood up from his seat abruptly, causing his chair to clatter. The other two teens at the table looked at him, surprised looks plastered on their faces. He readjusted his glasses and shot a brief glance at a clock on the wall on the other side of the room. "Sorry to cut your visit short, but it's getting to be about time that we left." Reiji set some money down on the table for their purchases and grabbed Yuya's hand—the one that was previously in Shingo's grasp—and the two of them left the cafe as Shingo looked on in bewilderment.

Reiji kept on walking with Yuya's hand in his until the two came across a bridge overlooking a river. The older turned around quickly to look at the younger and opened his mouth to say something. Before he could utter a word, however, a voice rang out saying, "Yuya-kun!" The two looked over to where the voice was coming from and saw their school's newest exchange student from America.

Dennis was smiling and waving his hand in greeting as he ran towards them. The new unwanted third wheel stopped only a few feet away from the two. "Dennis! What are you doing here?" Yuya asked the other. "Oh, I was just—" Dennis cut himself off after glancing in Reiji's direction. The older teen was glaring daggers at the other; if looks could kill, Dennis would've been dead a few hundred times over by now.

Reiji closed his eyes, sighed, and readjusted his glasses before looking over to his crush. He tapped Yuya's shoulder, making the other teen turn towards him. Then, he leaned down and placed his arms underneath Yuya's knees and shoulders, picking him up bridal style. "W-what are you doing? Reiji!" Yuya protested as he blushed at being in such a position. Dennis just looked on, stunned, as the older teen carried his friend away.

Reiji ignored Yuya's protests as he made his way away from the place where he'd once again been interrupted. He knew he was acting out of character and rather rashly, but he couldn't bring himself to care. He had waited what seemed like ages to gain the courage to ask Yuya out so he could confess and every time he tried to do so, one of Yuya's friends popped up out of nowhere and got in his way. Reiji was going to find someplace more secluded so they could talk and this time, no one was going to come between them.

After a while, the sun had set and they wound up in a deserted park with a white gazebo off to the other side. Reiji finally set Yuya down, but kept his hand in his own as he lead the other to the white structure. The older teen turned towards his crush and after giving himself a minute to collect his thoughts, started speaking.

"Yuya, I, for the past few years, have…I've…"

Yuya smiled up at the taller teen. He reached up and grasped Reiji's face with his hands.

"I know," he whispered.

Yuya moved his left hand down to Reiji's shoulder and kissed his cheek.

"You knew?" Reiji asked.

"Well, picking me up and carrying me bridal style for who knows how long was a pretty big hint." Yuya replied.

Reiji stared at him for a moment before smiling and holding his hand out to the other. Yuya took his hand and together, the two left the gazebo and walked to Yuya's home.

* * *

**A/N: **Yeah…so…this one, I kinda liked until the ending with Reiji suddenly losing it, but then I couldn't come up with something I liked better, so it just ended up staying the same.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Read and Review!


	4. Chapter 4: Surveillance

**A/N: **Thanks again, to all of those who've favorited/followed/reviewed.

**Prompt: **Surveillance

**Rating: **K

**Warning: **Possible awkwardness and repetitiveness.

…

Enjoy?

* * *

**Chapter 4: Surveillance**

Nakajima, the personal assistant to the CEO of Leo Corporation, Akaba Reiji, looked on as his employer paid his undivided attention to the performer on the screen of his office TV. Pro Entertainment Duelist Sakaki Yuya was once again dueling in a tournament to retain his title as the Duel Monsters Champion. His opponent this time was one of his most enduring rivals—Sawatari Shingo. Though his expression did not change, the young CEO's eyes seemed to light up as Sakaki said his signature catchphrase and defeated his opponent.

Unbeknownst to many, Akaba had an…infatuation with the younger entertainer. The young man obsessively taped every televised appearance, collected every printed article, and bookmarked every website mentioning him. To say Nakajima was shocked when he had learned of his boss' fixation would be an understatement. After finding out about the young CEO's obsession, Nakajima spent nights and days just wondering, why—why would a young, genius CEO of a multibillion-dollar company be so fixated on some undignified entertainer who was spurned by the rest of the professional world?  
Eventually, he came to the conclusion that he would never be able to understand his boss and decided to just be grateful that his employer was only mooning over an admittedly pretty entertainer and isn't into something especially freaky or a part of some kind of criminal activity.

Not that his obsessing over the entertainer isn't creepy or anything—in fact, it most definitely is. But, there are worse things than his boss pining over the duelist and it's not like he's doing any harm. He can still remember when he had first pieced together that his boss was infatuated with the duel champ.

At some point, Akaba started having him acquire seemingly random magazines when he was off doing whatever other tasks he'd been given. Soon, he started being ordered to stop by the young CEO's home and record several duel tournaments, news channel slots, and other random programs—which he found extremely weird, but did so anyway, and didn't ask any questions. Embarrassingly, it wasn't until much further down the line, that he'd realized that this was so Akaba could collect all of Sakaki's public appearances. After about a year of doing these things, Nakajima finally figured it out when he stopped by his employer's home to drop off some extra work and he saw that Akaba's DVR was filled with specials featuring the duelist and all the magazines that he'd ever bought him before, including others that more obviously featured the object of his boss' obsession, were sitting on the shelves of a bookcase.

The phone on Akaba's desk rang, and the personal assistant went to answer it. Akaba was now preoccupied with watching an interview featuring his obsession. On the phone was one of his boss' people who were hired to keep tabs on Sakaki when he was alone. Apparently, the 19-year old duel champion had just entered Leo Corporation Headquarters—the building his boss did all of his work in and where they were currently located. Nakajima put his hand over the phone's transmitter and looked over to where his employer was seated—only to realize that he was no longer in the room.

* * *

After finishing watching the interview his long time celebrity crush was in, Reiji went down to the first floor of Leo Corp's HQ to talk to the secretary at the main desk. He would've had Nakajima see to it—this kind of thing was usually much too tedious for him to bother with—but his personal assistant had been taking a call on his office phone, so it was most likely something important that shouldn't have been interrupted. Once he got off the elevator, having reached his desired floor, he took a moment to glance around at his surroundings. He really didn't spend much time on this floor; he usually just passed it by as he was always focusing on getting to his office to do all of his important work, or was heading home for the night and was too tired to pay it any mind.

Out of the corner of his eye, Reiji spotted a familiar hairstyle—one he would know anywhere, having spent countless moments of his life surveilling it in numerous forms of media. There, only a few feet away from the main desk, was Sakaki Yuya—the current Duel Champion and the apple of Reiji's eye. He was even cuter in person. The teen was looking around nervously and was obviously feeling out of place. Reiji made his way towards the other and stopped only a foot away.

"You're Sakaki Yuya." Reiji states upon getting closer to him.

Yuya blushes, just from looking at the handsome man in front of him. "Y-yes!"

"But, what are you doing here, if you don't mind my asking? You don't do business with Leo Corporation."

"I—I'm here visiting my friend!"

"Your friend?"

"Y-yes. That's right." Yuya replies, still blushing. "Ah!" Yuya's eyes widened in a mixture of surprise and recognition. "There he is right now, actually."

Reiji looked around to find this friend Yuya was speaking of. There, off to the side of where the two were conversing, a younger teen wearing a light blue jacket was jogging towards them. It was his younger brother, Reira.

"Hey Yuya!"

"Hey!"

"Reira!" Reiji looked at his younger brother in surprise. "You're friends with Sakaki Yuya? How?"

"My friend Tatsuya introduced us; he's known Yuya since he was a little kid." He answered, smiling at the two. "Oh! By the way, Yuya, as it turns out, I have to go run an errand real quick, so you'll have to wait for me just a bit longer. Until then, my big brother here will take care of you, okay? See you soon!"

"W-wait! Reira—!" The dual hair colored duelist tried to protest.

Reira didn't listen however, and made his way to the door.

"Please excuse me for a moment," Reiji told Yuya, before quickly running after his brother. He barely managed to catch up to him just outside the door. "What are you doing?"

"I know you've been infatuated with Yuya for a while now, so I decided to help you out. Take care of him for me, okay?" Reira winked at his brother before running off.

"Reira—!" Reiji called after his brother after he came from his initial stupor. The young CEO frowned, his eyes closed in annoyance and his head hung ever so slightly in defeat. "Going and doing whatever you want…" he muttered. Sighing, he fixed his glasses into place and walked back into the Leo Corp HQ to play host to Sakaki Yuya—the person he's been obsessed with ever since his debut to the professional dueling circuit.

Yuya was still standing where the two brothers had left him when Reiji got back inside. "Please excuse my and my brother's rudeness."

"Huh? Oh! Uh…it's no problem."

"Why don't you follow me to my office?" Reiji asked as he walked towards the elevator.

"Right," Yuya followed the other to the elevator and their ride up was silent and awkward and seemed to go on forever.

Eventually, the two made it to Reiji's office and he requested the personal assistant to bring them refreshments as they await his younger brother's return. After Nakajima left, the two began conversing once more, this time Yuya started talking about how he was first introduced to Reira and how he changed over the years, and then they began on other various other subjects. Before long, a couple hours had passed, Reira finally returned, and Yuya asked Reiji if he'd like to get together again sometime to hangout. The CEO accepted, of course, and after Yuya and his younger brother left, he thought about how he couldn't wait until their next meeting.

* * *

**A/N: **So, the first three were basically about the beginning of their romantic relationship(s), and this one was more like the beginning of their friendship and the precursor to their romantic relationship.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Read and Review!


	5. Chapter 5: Surrender

**A/N: **So…sorry to anyone who may have been looking forward to a new chapter. I've been really busy lately and couldn't work on anything for a while. I'm going to finish this story before I update my other ones, and because things are still going to be busy, I don't know how often I'll be able to update this one. In other news, I received a few reviews questioning the rating I chose for the story. The reason why I chose that rating was because I knew that at least one or two of these would be more…mature.

Anyways, thanks to all who favorited/commented/followed, you guys are awesome.

**Prompt: **Surrender

**Rating: **M

**Warning: **I was possessed (figuratively, no actual possessions going on here, folks) by the spirit of Halloween, and this story reflects that. Other warnings include someone getting hands-y and taking liberties, violence, and something worse than violence (Spoiler?: Death, but it's complicated.)

…

Enjoy?

* * *

**Chapter 5: Surrender**

A red-headed teen came to an abrupt stop in the middle of the sidewalk he'd been running on and turned around, lowering his bag, and called to his friend who had been frantically jogging not far behind, "Yuya! Come this way! Hurry up already!"

"Dennis, can't we just take a break for a little bit? I don't think I can keep this up much longer!"

"That won't do, Yuya! We **must** keep this pace up! There is a limit to how much candy is available, and to get as much as possible, we've got to keep at it! Breaks are just going to distract us from our mission! You should take a page out of Sora's book."

The teen pointed over his shoulder towards their blue-haired friend who was smiling adorably at the people who had opened their door to him, a whole half way down from where the other two teens were, despite them having just gotten to this street.

Yuya sighed. Once Dennis had explained Halloween to them, he thought it would be fun; they'd go to a handful of houses and get some free candy as they dressed in costumes, and then they'd be able to spend the rest of the night relaxing at Dennis' house and eating their newly acquired candy. But, Yuya soon learned that that wasn't possible with Dennis—as it turns out, the guy is serious when it comes to the holiday. Apparently he's never stopped before at least two in the morning, and they started at around five in the afternoon—so that meant they'd be at this for a total of **nine hours**! If only he had some backup, then, **maybe**, he'd get five minutes to rest—but, unfortunately for Yuya, his backup is Sora—and he's even more excited about this than Dennis.

When Yuya and Dennis had finally made it to the next house, they stepped onto the light blue home's wooden porch, rang the doorbell, and once the door opened, they shouted, "Trick-or-Treat!"

The lady who opened the door smiled, "My, my. What do we have here; a clown and a…magician?"

Dennis put on a bright smile and answered, "That's right!" Then, a puff of smoke later, a rose appeared in his hand. He offered it to the woman with an exaggerated bow. She giggled, accepted the rose, and grabbed the big bowl of candy that had been hiding on a small table beside the door. The two teens each took a few pieces of candy, and placed them in their bags.

"Hey, miss, can I get some too?" A voice coming from behind the clown and magician asked. They looked back to find their friend, Sora, who was dressed in a green hamster costume with wings and was holding his Trick-or-Treating bag in one hand and a chocolate frosted donut in the other.

"Ah! Weren't you here earlier though? You know, you're not supposed to go to the same house twice."

Sora put on his best sad face and looked at the woman with big, wide eyes, as he pulled his arms up and locked his now donut-less hand with the one that was holding his bag. "Pleeeeeeeeeeeeeease!"

The woman's gaze and expression softened, "Oh, you poor, adorable little thing! Of course you can have some!" The lady then shoved two large handfuls of candy into the hamster's open, awaiting bag. "Thank you!" The blue-haired boy flashed her the sweetest looking smile she'd ever seen before turning on his heel and walking off her porch and onto the sidewalk to head to the next house.

Yuya and Dennis hurried off after their friend after snapping out of their initial stupor at witnessing Sora's influence over others—they would never get used to that. Finally managing to catch up to the hamster, they stepped on either side of him. "Weren't you ahead of us before? Why'd you go back?" Dennis asked.

"I already finished the other side of the street and I don't know the area well, so I figured 'why not go back and do it again with my two slow-poke friends?'"

"My goodness, you work fast."

"Of course I do! I won't lose to anyone when it comes to sweets!"

Things continued on in much the same way for the next couple of hours. The three of them would get their candy, Yuya would beg for a break, only to be refused by Dennis, who would get teased by Sora for being so slow and having way less candy than him despite being a veteran and self-proclaimed pro. Things did take a sudden change however, when Dennis received a call on his cellphone.

"Hello? Really!? Alright, I'll definitely be there soon! Bye!" Dennis hung up his phone and stuck it back in his pocket before twirling around in excitement and shooting his arms up in the air out of happiness. All the while, Yuya and Sora just looked at the magician as if he'd gone insane.

"Okay, what's with you? What are you so happy about?" Sora frowned at the dancing teen.

"Every few years, a certain street gets especially into the spirit of Halloween and does some outrageous stuff and gives out the best candy—like whole candy bars—and my informant has relayed to me that this year it's on! We **have **to go there!"

"Heck yeah, we're going!" Sora yelled as he looked up at Dennis in excitement for what was to come.

"Great! The place we're heading to is actually pretty far away, but I know of the perfect shortcut, so let's go!" Dennis then turned away from his two friends and took off down the street and around a corner, with Sora following not far behind, and Yuya jogging after the two.

Roughly fifteen minutes later found the three friends at the gates of a foggy cemetery. Yuya paled at the appearance of the ominous site. "We have to go in **there**!?"

Dennis nodded in the affirmative. "Yes! Cutting through here is the fastest way to make it to our destination."

"B-but—!"

"Yuya," Sora interrupted, "it's just a cemetery! There's nothing to be worried about, and more importantly, I need more candy!"

"Sora's right, Yuya—there's nothing to worry about; it's just a cemetery…at night…on Halloween…when all the things that go bump in the night are said to more freely walk the plains of the mortal realm…"

Dennis' face just seemed to get more and more threatening the longer he spoke of the spooky place they stood just outside of. The poor clown was about to make a break for it when he discovered that both his arms had been grabbed by his companions and he was being pulled past the threshold of the cemetery gates. As soon as he realizes that he's been captured, he immediately starts thrashing about trying to get away from his friends-turned-kidnappers. His struggling is of little use however, and soon they're in the place where people are laid to their final rest.

'_I've finally found you…'_

As soon as he enters the graveyard, a cold, eerie voice whispers this into his left ear. He freezes, fearful of who or what said those words to him. That voice didn't belong to either of his friends—it was deeper than the magician and hamster's and sounded as though it belonged to someone older. He looked over each of his sides to see his friends' expressions; they didn't appear to be bothered at all by the voice.

"H-hey guys," the two looked at Yuya questioningly—the fear in his voice was hard to miss, "did you hear that just now?"

In unison, the two looked at their friend in confusion and asked, "Hear what?"

"Th-that voice! Y-you didn't h-hear it!?"

"Oh, I see. You're trying to scare us so that we don't have to continue through this graveyard and you can finally get your break," Sora accused, rolling his eyes at the other. "Nice try Yuya, but we're not falling for it!"

Just then, Dennis and Sora each shot each other matching, mischievous smirks, and the two ran deep into the foggy center of the graveyard, knowing that their friend would follow—too fearful of being alone to go out the way they came.

"W-wait! You guys!" Yuya reaches his hand out towards them to no avail; they've already left him behind in this scary place where the dead lie. Yuya spent the next few moments surveying his surroundings, too fearful to move ahead to find his traitorous friends at the moment. It was kind-of hard to see at the moment—it had already been dark out for a while and now a deep fog had settled all over the area—but, he could just barely make out the dark shapes of the tombstones that littered the ground. Speaking of which…Yuya looked down at where he was and jumped away, letting out a squeak as he discovered that he'd been standing only centimeters away from a grave.

'_You're still just as cute as you were back then…' _the same voice from before chuckled.

A sense of dread pooled within Yuya's stomach at once again hearing that eerie voice. He looked around quickly after being freed from his initial shock. He couldn't see anyone—where was this voice coming from!?

"Wh-who's there!?"

The voice laughed once more and suddenly Yuya could feel a presence behind him. An arm wrapped itself around his waist and he could feel someone press up against his back.

'_I am here,' _the voice whispered into his ear, causing a cold feeling to shoot up his spine.

"What are you doing!?" Yuya squirmed, trying desperately to free himself of the stranger's hold.

'_You're struggling. You shouldn't do that.' _

The other's words just made the captured teen's struggling worse. "Let go of me! I don't even know who you are!"

'_You don't remember me? That's fine; I'll just make you remember.'_

Slowly, the stranger lazily moved his free hand over his captive. Yuya shivered both from the cold touch and the voice whispering against his neck.

"Stop!"

The hand that had been running itself over him latched onto his side before moving down to his hip and thigh. The stranger then moved his mouth closer to his captive's ear, letting his sharp fangs graze the skin.

'_It's okay. You don't have to struggle anymore; just give in. Surrender.'_

As if a switch had been flipped, Yuya's mind seemed to turn off, and his vision went black. When he next awoke, he was someplace he knew he'd never been to, but somehow seemed familiar—almost nostalgic—to him. He didn't turn to look at his surroundings—he **knew **what it looked like. It was barely light out, and he was lying on a field surrounded by a large building, a cliff overlooking the sea, and a small wooded area.

'_You're here.'_ A voice—that stranger's voice—called out from behind him; it was coming from the direction of the large brick building. He wanted to freeze in terror or run as fast and far as his legs could carry him—anything other than what he wound up doing. His body moved on its own, heading towards the stranger who was standing with a smirk on his face and his arms wide open—waiting for Yuya to walk into his embrace. The stranger's arms closed around him, but although the embrace was physically cold, it somehow felt warm this time around.

Why was his body moving on its own like this? Why was he feeling so differently towards the other now? How did he know this place? How was even here now? He just didn't understand.

"Of course I'm here," he found himself saying against his will. He was smiling now. He was happy—here in this stranger's arms—he could feel it. "Why wouldn't I be?"

'_It's dangerous—to keep meeting like this—to even meet at all.' _

"That's fine; even if it is, I don't want to stop seeing you," his voice replied once again. He tilted his head back and met the other's lips. Just as the other's hands began to slip downwards, Yuya blacked out once more.

This time he awoke standing in the town center during the day. He was surrounded by people his age—teenagers and they all were staring at him with varying expressions on their faces, ranging from looks of pity to ones of mockery.

"I can't believe you! How stupid can you be? Falling in love with that freak! You know he's probably just using you, right?" The boy right in front of him sneered as he got in his face before shoving him.

At first he didn't know what the boy was talking about. But, then there was this intense feeling of anger deep in the pit of his stomach—he was furious—and then suddenly, once again, he just **knew**. Memories that don't quite belong to him flooded into his mind—his first encounter with "that freaky darkly-clothed loner", the random late night meetings, their declarations of love made by moonlight—all of it. Those were all important things that he held dear; how could someone just stomp all over those moments like that?

He's not completely sure what happened after that. He remembers the feeling of his throat going hoarse from yelling, but doesn't remember what was said. He recalls seeing the shocked looks on the other people's faces, but can't recall if anyone did something else or if he just walked away. Whatever happened after that doesn't really matter though, as soon after, he found himself losing consciousness once again.

This time, he was running. Blood was pumping through him fast as he ran on sore legs and his lungs burned with each deep breath he took. The feeling of fear was rushing over him in waves. They were going to kill him—he knew it; they were going to kill him because they were afraid of his relation with the dangerous outsider he had fallen in love with.

They were on the edge of the woods now, on the other side of where his love resided. Maybe, if he could make it there, then—'thump'. He had fallen over a tree root sticking up out of the ground, the rest of the townspeople were just a few paces behind him and growing closer, and he still wasn't where he needed to be. Quickly, he made to get up, but before he could, a foot slammed onto his hand. He let out a pained wail and the person who had just stepped on him turned him over onto his back.

He looked up into the face of whoever moved him. They were livid, and the glow of the torch's fire being held by another villager to the first one's side made him look even more intimidating. Yuya watched on in horror as the angered man raised his arms above his head and he finally took notice of what was in the man's grasp—a pitchfork. It came down hard and he let out a bloodcurdling scream. He felt it pierce his torso and then blood started filling up his lungs.

He watched as they all turned their backs to him and walked off, seemingly satisfied with their work. He heard a branch snap from the woods behind him and looked back towards the sound. It was **him**. Everything hurt, but the most painful thing was seeing the pained look on his beloved's face. The other said nothing as he walked closer and kneeled down by his side, taking one of his hands in his own.

Neither of the two said anything, because nothing had to be said. The taller of the two could tell that Yuya was thinking, "I'll be back; we'll meet again, someday." Yuya, in turn, could tell just from looking into his eyes that the other would be waiting—forever if need be. These thoughts were the last to go through his mind before he, once again, fell to the blackness.

"Yuya, wake up!"

Yuya woke with a start to the sound of Sora screaming at him and the sight of Dennis staring down at him worriedly. He sat up and surveyed his surroundings. He was still in the cemetery they had decided to cut through.

"What happened?" The stranger—all of the things that he went through—were those things all just a dream?

"That's what we want to know! We waited forever for you by the exit." Dennis held out a hand for the other to take, and Yuya was soon standing beside the other two.

"Yeah; and thanks to that, we've missed a good amount of time that could've been spent getting me more candy! So, to make up for it, we're going to double our pace!" Sora pouted adorably before grabbing the two and running off towards the exit.

Once they had made it out, Sora noticed a single house on the other side of the street that was decorated and lit spectacularly. These sorts of houses usually had the best candy, so he, of course, went straight to it, leaving the other two behind—though Dennis wasn't far behind. Now that he had a moment alone, Yuya looked back at the graveyard they had just left. Was what happened to him real? As if in answer to his question, a heavy fog rolled by in the distance, and the glowing, violet eyes of the person he came to recognize as his former love came and went with it.

With that, his doubt was assuaged; he would come back here someday—but for now, he had to catch up with his friends before they started to worry.

* * *

**A/N: **I had other ideas for this, but I hated them, and no matter what I did, they always ended up sounding even more awkward and weird than usual, so it took me forever to get to what this is now, especially with my little free time. Ugh.

Anyways, in case you didn't catch on, Reiji is a vampire who once was in a relationship with Yuya's past life, who obviously died and then was reincarnated to become the Yuya who was out Trick-or-Treating with his friends, Dennis and Sora. Also, Yuya was dressed in his get up from episode 1, Dennis was a magician because of his Entermage Trapeze Magician but was dressed more like a traditional magician (so, a black suit), and Sora was dressed as Fluffal Mouse, which I referred to as a hamster because it just looks like a hamster to me (when I think mice, I think long tails, a different body type than what was presented in the card, and it was cute looking like the pet hamster I once had.)

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Read and Review!


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